Whale Fall, a short, lyrical, feminist debut novel set on an imagined island off the coast of Wales in 1938, came tantalisingly close to being great for me. I just needed a little more from the story.

The eerie, remote setting had echoes of Metronome (Tom Watson), and the intrusion and exploitation by outsiders into island life was redolent of The Colony (Audrey Magee). It was named by the Observer on its list of Best Debut Novels for 2024.

Manod is a young woman contemplating her future on an isolated Welsh island, tied to her family and their impoverished existence but with a longing for a life elsewhere. When a whale beaches itself and there are rumours of submarines offshore, it's a portent for the islanders who are still recovering from the loss of so many of of their native menfolk in the Great War. Two English ethnographers arrive on the island around this time and Manod assists them as they document and catalogue island life, but are their intentions noble?

This had the makings of a great story but it petered out a little towards the end, It's one to read if you love lyrical writing, ominous settings and the plot/resolution doesn't matter too much to you. 3/5 stars

Many thanks to the author, publisher Pan Macmillan for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Whale Fall will be published on 25 April 2024.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Picador for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Whale Fall follows Manod, a young woman living in the harsh landscape of an island situated off the coast of Wales. The time is 1938, and the rumblings of a war preparing to engage in conflict can be felt out at sea. A whale appears on the beach of Manod and her family’s sparse home. Questionable and mysterious at first, this is only compounded by the arrival of two English anthropologists, who speak of their interest in discovering everything there is to know about these scattered Welsh isles.

The blanket of this story is wonderfully touching in its coming of age tones. Manod can be naive at times - dreamy in her wants and goals for her future - but never delusional and always sincere. You want her to venture beyond the island, whilst wanting to protect her from those attempting to take advantage of that. Gradually, she begins to get tangled up in the relationship between the two anthropologists, and this naivety is what she must battle with in her crucial moments. She can be frustrating to sit with, but the reader is never pushed into a feeling of overriding annoyance. She is sheltered in certain aspects of her life - something that naturally comes with the territory of growing up on a secluded island with little contact beyond immediate family and the same 4 or 5 village neighbours - and her age plays a large role in her actions and decision making.

Age cannot be said to be a factor in how Manod’s younger sister operates within this tale. The younger sister is stubborn and untrusting towards the new-coming anthropologists, and with good reason. She sticks to the Welsh language, and never has nor never will she bend to the whims and fancies of the English for their molly-coddled comfort. I only wish that we spent more time with the younger sister, but I suppose the roughness of not knowing her too well comes with the satisfaction of watching her keep her guard up to any and all intruders.

The atmosphere of the novel sits well in its environment. Parts feel cold, blisteringly windy, wet and sodden, and I found O’Connor’s descriptions of island life working to create a dimension of character to the island itself. Not doing this, and making the island feel flat and one dimensional, would strip the novel back so much that slight dips in pacing would’ve killed the whole story. Thankfully, O’Connor treated the island with a care that shows her skill in novel-writing.

Whale Fall really snuck up on me. I did not expect it to hold my attention throughout, which is bad of me to say. I was expecting something lighter and less punchy. This is punchy but not in that instant-knockout-way. More so it brings to life Manod’s character from the first or second page, and that instantly feels like your gut has been grabbed. The book then proceeds to never let the gut go. It screws and turns the reader until the last page.
A note of appreciation to see the Welsh language still being inked forever to the page. Hold hope that it never dies.

Pick up Whale Fall. You will care by the end.

Whale Fall was requested on a whim but unfortunately I didn't like it! It was well-written and definitely a good book, but the story mostly never grabbed me and just wasn't really to my taste. There were a few interesting moments, but on the whole this book was just not the kind of book I like.

Such a beautiful debut. The descriptions of the island and the daily life of the inhabitants is rendered so clearly and bewitchingly! A short story that packs a punch and tells the difficult coming of age story of Manod and her journey to discover what she wants and how she's going to get it. Also such an interesting setting to explore the time period of early WWII. We will be getting this into the shop soon and I can't wait to start recommending it!

I feel that this novel seeped into my heart, led there by the main character Mabon.

The author writes beautifully about Mabon, an 18 year old woman and the very small island, off the British coast, that she is living on in 1938.. She is living at home, looking after her younger sister while her dad works as a lobster fisherman.

There is a real tranquil feeling to the novel, despite the impact of weather and wars on island life. I felt that we got a realistic view of the island through Mabon's eyes, while witnessing students from England arriving in order to record island life for a book they're working on.

I think this novel is beautifully written, emotional and even though it is a short read, it had a big impact on me. I feel like we are given a glimpse into a world that I could never experience and couldn't truly understand from this distance of time and place. But I feel expanded in my compassion for those who live differently to my own experience. This is my favourite part of reading, when I feel like I've been somewhere new (place or experience) and it made me open a space in my heart. A place where this story will mature, for Mabon to grow and influence me in turn.

The story of Manod, the whale and the scientists coming to the small island on which she, her father and sister and a small amount of people life is as interesting, as life on the island must seem to the two anthropologists visiting. On the other hand there‘s Manod whose desire to leave the island with them grows while working with them. Themes like belonging, betrayal and loyalty to her family make Manod and her story very intriguing.

I struggled with this book; it is lovely and contemplative, but fractured rather than having a clear continuous narrative, and the plot did not hold me very well - there wasn’t a great deal of substance to it. The island setting is harsh, beautiful, remote, melancholy, dangerous, and that’s the overall feeling of the book. The protagonist is a young woman called Manod, who becomes the assistant an Englishman and woman from Oxford University, who have arrived to study the way of life of the islanders and document it for publication in a book. These two outsiders don’t particularly seem to care about factual correctness and are more interested in beauty or a good tale; Manod is initially drawn to these exotic and knowledgable strangers, but quickly becomes disillusioned as she sees their research and as the two in turn begin to distance themselves from her. On the mainland there is rumours of war, but the life on the island is harsh and although they are sheltered there, it’s also far from clear that their way of live isn’t going to disappear from those leaving for work on the mainland. The novel is about these disappearing island lives, and it’s lovely but just not particularly captivating.

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Picador, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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What a captivating, heart-rendering book Whale Fall is. I sat down to read and didn’t stop, it was a one session read for me. There is an ache and melancholy to Whale Fall that draws you in immediately. The contained setting mixed with lead character Manod’s coming-of-age story works so well.

Set on a small, remote Welsh island in the 1930s – Whale Fall tells the story of Manod. Born and bred on the island, two events happen in a short space of time to put a spin on her day-to-day and make her question what it is she really wants from life. To push the boundaries of the island she has known all her life.

An unusual occurrence: a whale washes up on the shore of the island, sparking interest from the islanders and drawing attention from the mainland in the form of Joan and Edward. They arrive on the island shortly after the whale appears with the intent of studying the islanders’ way of life, for anthropological reasons.

Manod lives with her father and sister, Llinos. Her mother is dead, her father is remote and her sister often speaks only in Welsh, to further isolate herself. It’s no surprise that Joan and Edward are such an instant attraction to her.

Haunting details – like no-one on the island knowing how to swim – are thrown into the mix and really heighten the sense of isolation and other-worldliness of the island inhabitants.

Whale Fall is spliced through with the accounts Joan and Edward are writing for their research and they don’t quite match up with the reality of the island. They are projecting a version of life that isn’t there and there is a tension that thrums through as we – the reader – can see what they really up to but it isn’t obvious to Manod.

Wonderfully written, I very much enjoyed reading this and highly recommend you spend some time in Manod’s company soon.

Set on an isolated and harsh island, this story isn’t much different. It’s something of a coming-of-age tale and documentation of the island’s people’s lives told in a very direct, no-nonsense manner. The atmosphere is somewhat nostalgic and almost poetic, I guess, yet we don’t really get to connect to any of the characters, which is very disappointing. There doesn’t seem to be an actual plot, either. I feel like <i>Whale Fall</i> tries to be a lot of things at the same time, thus ends up being (about) nothing at all.

I definitely see the potential in this story if the characters were to have substance and topics were actually being addressed, which unfortunately, makes it all the more disappointing.

WOW! What a stunning book.
I completely fell for Manod's raw character and the harsh life she led on a bleak island off the coast of Wales. Elizabeth O'Connor's writing had me living in that cold cottage, tasting the brine of the sea air and feeling the hope of escapism and a brighter future when the researchers arrive on the island.
In some ways, the writing style (not a word wasted) and the length of the book (more a novella) had me likening it to Claire Keegan's 'Small Things Like These'.
A brilliant literary read that will stay with me for quite a while.

More of this please.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very strong debut novel from writer Elizabeth O Connor. Set in 1938, on an island off the Welsh coast, it tells the story of a small group of hardy islanders struggling to survive and maintain their traditional lifestyle in a changing world. With strong vibes of Audrey Magee’s “The Colony”, I really enjoyed this prosaic and lyrical read.

'Whale Fall' is a beautiful, moving coming-of-age novel by Elizabeth O'Connor set in 1938 on a fictional island off the coast of Wales with fewer than 50 inhabitants.

Manod is 18 years old and lives with her younger sister, Llinos and her father, Tad, a lobster fisherman . Having completed (and excelled at) her education, Manod is reluctant to embrace her future which seems to involve marrying one of the local boys and either staying on the island or moving to the mainland. When English anthropologists Edward and Joan arrive, they take an interest in Manod and ask her to be their assistant, helping them to understand life on the island. Manod is initially excited by the different way of life Edward and Joan seem to be offering her, but becomes increasingly disillusioned over the course of their stay.

In her author's note, O'Connor explains that her island is inspired by a number of real islands around Britain which faced dwindling populations over the course of the 20th Century, including Bardsey Island and St Kilda. Although this island is fictional, O'Connor's portrait of a vanishing way of life seems completely real, filled with stunning descriptions of the natural world and the passing of the seasons. The novel is fairly slender but unfolds slowly, with much less unsaid, allowing us gradually to understand the gap between the portrait of the island Edward and Joan are creating and the reality of life on the island. The novel ends with a real gut-punch as we have come to care deeply about Manod, her family and her hopes.

This is a superb debut novel - many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Beautiful, poignant and descriptive - I really enjoyed this absorbing debut novel and stayed engaged throughout to the end. Elizabeth O'Connor is an author I will be keeping an eye out for in the future! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced digital review copy.

I devoured the whole of this short novel during one bank holiday- what a treat! The prose has a wonderfully lyrical quality and the characters are well described. The whale is almost incidental to the story, but provides a suitable carrier for the rest of the events and interactions. I loved that this could have been set on any remote island community of that era, but still gave the reader a clear sense of place and time.

Manod is 18, she lives on a small Welsh island with her father and sister. She is offered a job translating for two English people from the mainland who are studying the islanders. Her sense of isolation and hope to leave the island one day are well portrayed. The story is beautifully written and very evocative. I look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you to Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Whale Fall is a debut novel by Elizabeth O’Connor and it follows Manod in 1938. She lives on a remote island just off the coast of Wales. A beached whale has appeared on the island’s shore and people think the world is going to end. The impact of the Great War has left an empty hole on the island. Two anthropologists arrive on the island and Manod develops a relationship with them.

This novel was easy and quick to read and it does have an intriguing premise. It’s a quiet novel and to be completely honest I wasn’t the audience for this. To me, the tone of this just didn’t feel right. It felt very modern and not at all like WWII would start a year later. It wasn’t bad but it has a very specific audience.

🐋 REVIEW 🐋

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor
Release Date: 25th April

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

📝 - In 1938, a dead whale washes up on the shores of a small island off the coast of Wales. Manod, a young woman who has spent all her life on the island, it sets off thoughts of leaving her father and younger sister, setting off to the mainland to see what else might be in store for her. When two ethnographers arrive from England, requesting her help in studying the island culture, she receives another glimpse of what life may be like beyond her small community.

💭 - Whale Fall is written beautifully. The prose flows so well, creating such a vivid scene of the island through the winter. The relationships Manod has with others on the island, including her family, are also delicately handled, but remain so tangible and realistic. I enjoyed the interspersing of extracts from the ethnographers’ notes, really painting a picture of the life had on the island (while fictional, it takes inspiration from real island culture of the time/setting). At just ~220 pages, O’Connor paints a beautiful, emotional picture of what it is like to be a young woman caught between two worlds.
An absolutely brilliant debut, and a writer I’ll be keeping my eye out for in the future. Highly recommend.

#review #bookreview #netgalley #readaroundtheworldchallenge #literature #fiction #literaryfiction #literary #historicalfiction #wales

Published 25 April 2024. This debut novel is full of beautiful, emotive writing that transports you to a place that almost feels out of time. Based upon the history of remote islands - this fictional island is off the Welsh mainland and is the home to a very small community who survive by fishing and farming. Our main character is 18 year old Manod who lives with her father and sister and who dreams of a life on the mainland, of an education and a better life than the one that she seems to be destined for - marriage to one of the fishermen. Set in the run up to WW2, two anthropologists, Edward and Joan, come to the island to records the islanders' lives and culture and they hire Manod as their translator. This is a coming of age as we follow Manod month by month as she become seduced by this English couple with their talk of the mainland, and it sparks dreams of her actually being able to leave the island. But you also see that the stories that Edward and Joan are collecting, they are being manipulated to tell their truths rather than the reality. there is a feeling that the islanders - and Manod are being exploited. As for the whale that has beached on the shore - its significance, I think is in the title. A whale fall is when a whale's carcass creates an ecosystem and sustenance as organisms scavenge on it, and so I think, that drawn to the island by the whale, Edward and Joan are like the scavengers. They are picking apart the islanders in the same way that the deep sea organisms scavenge off the whale. You feel so sad for Manod and the islanders, but the stories, the folk lore - just wonderful. A very impressive debut novel.

A beautifully written book about a community on a remote Welsh island. It concentrates on a year in Manod’s life - an 18 year old girl who becomes fascinated with visitors who come to study the island and make her question her way of life. The descriptions of the island and their difficult lives really take you there, feeling the cold and the fear of the sea which they all rely on and making you wonder how they could possibly survive year after year.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this unique book.

Whale Fall centres around Manor and her experiences when two anthropologists arrive on the island to study the traditions.
Delicately and carefully written, an exquisite tale filled to the brim with evocative descriptions and characters. I didn't want it or end!